Banning's Restaurant & Pie Hse

09/26/08

Breakfast at Bannings always fulfills! by dan K. at InsiderPages

Contributor at Insider Pages

I have eaten at Bannings many times, always for breakfast. Although a Saturday may be met with a wait, it is worth it. As a creature of habit, I tend to stick with what I know, and I know the stuffed hashbrowns are awesome! One day I will dive into the pies in the case that greets you at the door.

Service is always great.

01/18/09

Great Food and Service

by goldenrod21 at Citysearch

Nice new decor. No more smoke smell. The staff is fast and friendly. The food is delicious, especially breakfast (most especially the french toast and Southwestern Skillet).

01/13/09

Good News

by loveforwidgles at Citysearch

Bannings has been remodled. Be happy its very pretty. So for all those complaints on how it needs to be remodled it has been!!!!!

• Pros: Good staff
• Cons: Plead the fifth

01/04/09

New management is poor

by Butterfly33 at Citysearch

I have become a regular in the last year and a half and I must say I used to like it there a lot. The new management is awful! They have one good manager and she's probably the youngest one there. The manager that worked at night was very attentive and pleasant. The best manager and they fired her! Why on earth would you fired the best manager in there?! I also agree with a comment made about the new GM. She looks tired and always worn down. She seems fake and not sincere. The staff are great but I miss the old management! Service is usually prompt unless it's busy. Food there is good and well proportioned but too expensive! The bathrooms seem a bit worn down and so does the restaurant. Needs to be remodeled!

• Pros: Servers are great!
• Cons: Management is VERY poor!

12/14/08

great servers.. bad management..

by dropit2hott at Citysearch

I am somewhat of a regular at Bannings.. The service is always great. Food decent.. However, the head manager is disgusting!!! She looks as though she has not bathed in at least a week. She represents that restaurant and should take a little more pride in her appearance.. Not to mention an attitude adjustment.. *** Look for a new GM Mark!!!!

• Pros: Great service/fun servers
• Cons: disgusting manager

10/01/08

awesome service, and darn good food

by Thoren at Citysearch

Banning's,

Where to begin. They may not have the best food in the world, but it is very good. The staff, laugh and joke with them some show you don't have sticks in odd places and they are very friendly. I began going to bannings with upto 27 people every two weeks without calling in advance. They would panic a little and then goto work setting us a place to sit. over all out of the verious eateries in the greater portland area that I have eaten at. the freindly and welcomeing attitude of the staff more than makes up for any short comings in the food which are few that I have encountered

• Pros: very friendly and attentive
• Cons: glares from other customers not there to have fun

08/02/08

Pleasantly surprised!

by tme2eat at Citysearch

Well, I was a little afraid of what I might find at Bannings considering all the negative reviews. But a friend of mine wanted to meet there for breakfast, so we did. I found the service to be attentive and friendly and the food to be good. The pancakes weren't the best I've ever had, but neither were they the worst. The bacon was yummy! I would have no problem eating there again.

Peace to you!

• Pros: Bacon was excellent and coffee drinkable.
• Cons: Pancakes not the lightest and fluffiest in town!

04/23/08

I'd be shocked if I were to get good customer service here

by Purelight55 at Citysearch

Wow their service never ceases to meet my expectations... and I mean that in the worst way. I don't know what their day staff is like but anything past 11pm, be afraid. Their food is fine and pies are great, but if there was another place open 24 hours near by that wasn't a bar I would go there instead. So these are some of my experiences with their staff. I went there to get mashed patatoes and gravy and the "not too bright person" put it in a flimsy container for a side salad extra gravy and all. Half of it ended up in the bag before I got home. Another incidence is one morning I ordered a caesar salad and she brought out a chicken caesar salad. She could have informed me that the only one she had on the menu was a chicken one, what if I was a vegetarian? I didn't want to spend 8 bucks on a salad at 8 in the morning. I told her that I didn't want it and she was horribly rude about it, then because she didn't want to deal with us another lady continued with our order. She handed us the bill and stood there waiting for us to sign. It is so rude to watch while someone is about to write out your tip. There are two more incidences so far but I dont want to bore you anymore with their crappy service. Don't expect much.

07/06/07

Whats up now

by dallascowboys618 at Citysearch

Great food. Even better service. I am a newer regular at Bannings and whatever smell used to be present, I do not notice, so they must have fixed it. The newer staff are awesome and make regular dinning a better experience. Ignore the rewiews that are obviouslly written by a nearby competitor. Come in and check it out yourselves.

P.S. if you haven't tried there on site baked pies and cakes, do so. you won't regret it (well maybe the extra time on the treadmill)!!!

~Tim

05/03/07

nauseating smell

by piellord at Citysearch

Overall the food is pretty lackluster and a little overpriced, but the portions are large. Completely avoid the Mexican food and stick towards the breakfast side of the menu. You'll find the wait staff is very accommodating and quick with service, but best to get take out because of a bad smell. After reading the other reviews on this site I wasn't surprised to find others who had similar complaints about revolting odors in this restaurant. The odor smells like sulfur and ammonia. The food is already mediocre at best and the peculiar odor certainly does not enhance it. The odor was strongest near the bathroom so it is probably a simple matter of a backed up sewage pipe letting in sewer gas. Nothing a long auger and some elbow grease couldn't fix. Too bad there isn't that easy of a fix for the food. Just a final warning, If the odor is sewer gas, it is probably best to avoid due to the negative health risks associated with exposure.

• Pros: Outgoing servers
• Cons: Sewer gas odor

05/03/07

Awful Food-Foul Bathrooms

by necmilover at Citysearch

I used to go to Bannings all of the time, but latley the food has gone downhill. The staff is awesome, but the managment could use some help. I watched the manager (female) totally yell at one of her girls right in front of the customers, embarrassing her terribly.

The food is microwaved (waffles, french dip/steak subs/veggies) and the bathroom hallway smells of sewage. I told the manager and she said "Thats what the lysol is for" and sprayed chemicals all over the restaurant.

It's really hard to enjoy a meal when the smell from the bathroom keeps affecting your appetite.

I now go across the street and eat breakfast where NOTHING is microwaved and the bathrooms smell clean and fresh.

• Pros: It was hard to find one
• Cons: Smelly Bathrooms and bad managment